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Index   /ˈɪndɛks/   Listen
noun
Index  n.  (pl. E. indexes, L. indices)  
1.
That which points out; that which shows, indicates, manifests, or discloses; as, the increasing unemployment rate is an index of how much the economy has slowed. "Tastes are the indexes of the different qualities of plants."
2.
That which guides, points out, informs, or directs; a pointer or a hand that directs to anything, as the hand of a watch, a movable finger or other form of pointer on a gauge, scale, or other graduated instrument. In (printing), A sign () (called also fist) used to direct particular attention to a note or paragraph.
3.
A table for facilitating reference to topics, names, and the like, in a book, usually giving the page on which a particular word or topic may be found; usually alphabetical in arrangement, and printed at the end of the volume. Typically found only in non-fiction books.
4.
A prologue indicating what follows. (Obs.)
5.
(Anat.) The second finger, that next to the pollex (thumb), in the manus, or hand; the forefinger; index finger.
6.
(Math.) The figure or letter which shows the power or root of a quantity; the exponent. ((in this sense the plural is always indices))
7.
The ratio, or formula expressing the ratio, of one dimension of a thing to another dimension; as, the vertical index of the cranium.
8.
A number providing a measure of some quantity derived by a formula, usually a form of averaging, from multiple quantities; used mostly in economics; as, the index of leading indicators; the index of industrial production; the consumer price index. See, for example, the consumer price index.
9.
(computers) A file containing a table with the addresses of data items, arranged for rapid and convenient search for the addresses.
10.
(computers) A number which serves as a label for a data item and also represents the address of a data item within a table or array.
11.
(R. C. Ch.), The Index prohibitorius, a catalogue of books which are forbidden by the church to be read; also called Index of forbidden books and Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
Index error, the error in the reading of a mathematical instrument arising from the zero of the index not being in complete adjustment with that of the limb, or with its theoretically perfect position in the instrument; a correction to be applied to the instrument readings equal to the error of the zero adjustment.
Index expurgatorius. See Index prohibitorius (below).
Index finger. See Index, 5.
Index glass, the mirror on the index of a quadrant, sextant, etc.
Index hand, the pointer or hand of a clock, watch, or other registering machine; a hand that points to something.
Index of a logarithm (Math.), the integral part of the logarithm, and always one less than the number of integral figures in the given number. It is also called the characteristic.
Index of refraction, or Refractive index (Opt.), the number which expresses the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction. Thus the index of refraction for sulphur is 2, because, when light passes out of air into sulphur, the sine of the angle of incidence is double the sine of the angle of refraction.
Index plate, a graduated circular plate, or one with circular rows of holes differently spaced; used in machines for graduating circles, cutting gear teeth, etc.
Index prohibitorius, or Prohibitory index (R. C. Ch.), a catalogue of books which are forbidden by the church to be read; the index expurgatorius, or expurgatory index, is a catalogue of books from which passages marked as against faith or morals must be removed before Catholics can read them. These catalogues are published with additions, from time to time, by the Congregation of the Index, composed of cardinals, theologians, etc., under the sanction of the pope.
Index rerum, a tabulated and alphabetized notebook, for systematic preservation of items, quotations, etc.



verb
Index  v. t.  (past & past part. indexed; pres. part. indexing)  
1.
To provide with an index or table of references; to put into an index; as, to index a book, or its contents.
2.
(Economics) To adjust (wages, prices, taxes, etc.) automatically so as to compensate for changes in prices, usually as measured by the consumer price index or other economic measure. Its purpose is usually to copensate for inflation.
3.
To insert (a word, name, file folder, etc.) into an index or into an indexed arrangement; as, to index a contract under its date of signing.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Index" Quotes from Famous Books



... notion of class can be held up as a tendency. Those who have fallen into the traps of the bureaucrats and have given way to the flattery or to the corruption of the bourgeoisie can be listed and put upon the index. Even working-class political action can be assailed as never before, because it now exists for the first time in history, and its every weakness is known. Moreover, there are the slowness of movement and the seemingly increasing tameness of the multitude. All these incidents in the growth ...
— Violence and the Labor Movement • Robert Hunter

... straight enough beneath such skillful eyes. Finally, he turned to a small locked ledger, of which the key was attached to Roden's watch-chain, who came forward and unlocked the book. Mr. Wade turned to the index at the beginning of the volume, found a certain account, and opened the book there. At the sight of the figures he raised his eyebrow and glanced up ...
— Roden's Corner • Henry Seton Merriman

... Museum and the College of Arms contain fine collections of Heralds' Visitations, and Burke's Landed Gentry and Dugdale's Baronage are the chief sources of information. Old wills will yield much information, many of which are in course of publication by the Index Society, and county archaeolgical journals; and Somerset House and many diocesan registries contain the original documents. The Historical Manuscripts Commission has published many volumes of borough records which are of great service, ...
— English Villages • P. H. Ditchfield

... add to Mr. Cooke's criticism these two remarks: First, that I have found it impossible to know under which of his divisions to look for many of the poems I was in search of; and as, in the earlier copies at least, there was no paged index where each author's pieces were collected together, one had to hunt up his fragments with no little loss of time and patience, under various heads, "imitating the careful search that Isis made for the mangled body of Osiris." The ...
— Ralph Waldo Emerson • Oliver Wendell Holmes

... I. (1825) until the death of Alexander III. (1894). The third and concluding volume will deal with the reign of Nicholas II., the last of the Romanovs, and will also contain the bibliographical apparatus, the maps, the index, and other supplementary material. This division will undoubtedly recommend itself to the reader. The next volume is partly in type, and will follow as ...
— History of the Jews in Russia and Poland. Volume II • S.M. Dubnow


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